(Las Vegas, NV; March 28, 2013) – A securities fraud investigation by the office of Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller led to the arrest today of a man who was scheduled to begin serving a sentence this June for a conviction on previous, similar charges. Jamal Eljwaidi, a.k.a. Jean Marc, pled guilty to a wire fraud charge relating to securities in August, 2012, and on March 4 of this year was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution. Eljwaidi was given until June 3, 2013 to self-report for the prison sentence.

Secretary of State investigators say they learned earlier this month that Eljwaidi had made promises to invest in a Las Vegas woman’s new business venture, paying $1,000,000 for 51% of the business. He then told the woman that he would need money from her in order to free up the funds that he would be using to make the investment in her new business. The business owner and another investor/victim gave Eljwaidi $18,000 and $25,000 respectively. Eljawadi provided the business owner with two checks totaling $500,000 as partial payment for his stake in the business, but did not disclose that the account from which the checks were written did not contain sufficient funds.

The criminal complaint also alleges that Eljwaidi showed his victim and at least one other potential victim a letter that was supposedly signed by the Assistant United States Attorney supporting Eljwaidi’s claims that he was unable to access the funds he intended to invest. The substantive contents of the letter were false and the signature was a forgery according to investigators.

“The court generously gave Mr. Eljwaidi time to put his affairs in order before serving his 21-month federal prison sentence,” said Secretary Miller. “Mr. Eljwaidi decided to use that time to extend what has essentially been an ongoing fraudulent scheme. We are happy to have the opportunity to work with other agencies to ensure that even the most committed and persistent perpetrators of fraud are eventually brought to justice. Crimes of this nature can be very complicated to investigate, and I appreciate the tenacity of my investigators in this case.”

Eljwaidi was arrested this morning at a coffee shop just a block away from the federal courthouse, where he was taken following the arrest. He is expected to be turned over to the Clark County Detention Center to await an initial court appearance. He now faces two new counts of forgery and one new count of securities fraud. For a copy of the criminal complaint, click here.